HERNDON, Va., Jan. 3, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been awarded a contract to install a 9-1-1 computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system to enhance public safety service and response for the U.S. Navy in the east Puget Sound, Wash., region.

Northrop Grumman's Information Technology (IT) sector implemented its 9-1-1 CAD to cover the western Puget Sound region during the phase-one contract, awarded in September 2003. The second-phase contract will link the eastern Puget Sound public safety dispatch centers to the Navy Region Northwest's Regional Dispatch Center at Naval Base Kitsap for a fully integrated CAD capability. Kitsap is located in Silverdale, Wash.

"By expanding the Puget Sound 9-1-1 CAD system, military personnel and their families will benefit from improved response times for public safety and homeland security emergencies," said Hugh Taylor, president of Northrop Grumman IT's Commercial, State and Local Solutions business unit. "Our technologies will integrate the eastern Puget Sound public safety center seamlessly into the western region, resulting in a single, interoperable emergency response system."

Northrop Grumman's work for the Navy's Northwest Regional Dispatch Center will include consolidation of video monitoring systems, as well as the integration of digital radio communications for emergency personnel, enhanced 9-1-1 caller information assistance, mapping, alarm monitoring, multi-site weather sensor, fire station, and mass alerting systems into the 9-1-1 CAD.

The contract is valued at $4.4 million over two years with five one-year options. Work on the contract will be done at the Regional Dispatch Center at Naval Base Kitsap and other bases in the northwest region.

Northrop Grumman Information Technology, headquartered in Herndon, Va., is a trusted IT leader and premier provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial clients. The company's technological leadership spans such areas as homeland security solutions, secure wireless, cyber and physical assurance, IT and network infrastructure, managed services, knowledge management, modeling and simulation, and geospatial intelligence solutions.